Monday, April 28, 2014

Planning and Prepping

So, I like control, therefore, I plan whatever I can. And because I am super health conscious (obsessed as my sister likes to label it), planning my meals definitely falls into the planning category.

I never go to the grocery store blindly. I have a well thought out grocery list. I find that I need to be extra diligent when my Husband is away for work because a random trip to the grocery store may not always be possible when you have a napping toddler.

My grocery list? I try to push for 100% clean ingredients. A few staples in our house are :
-chicken breast, ground or boneless, skinless
-fresh fruit and berries
-fresh and frozen veggies
-tomato sauce
-eggs
-greek yogurt
-almond milk

Sundays tend to be my meal prep day, prepping for the coming work week. I always whip of a batch of my homemade granola, some jars of overnight oats, and separate appropriate servings of berries and sliced veggies for easy grab and go from the fridge.

Here's my current meal plan for this week. feel free to contact me for any recipes that aren't up on this site yet!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Love me some healthy pizza! Umm, but cauliflower??

My 2 year old LOVES pizza! I went from my old lifestyle boxed pizza mix to a clean eating alternative months ago, which is delicious, but I've been looking for something the same, but different. Better, I guess, and better for you.

I'm not a HUGE pizza fan myself to be honest, but my husband and child would definitely eat it at least a few times a week if ever given the choice. But, I'm all about cleaning up old favorites, so I didn't hesitate to give this a try.

I've seen numerous recipes online for cauliflower pizza and researched until I found one that I thought would be easy and tasty. I actually tried making it a couple of months ago and burned the cauliflower while it was cooking in the microwave! Needless to say, never tasted it then.

But tonight, for supper, I DID IT! I successfully made a cauliflower crust pizza! No, it may not seem like a big deal, but to me, it was! And might I add, it was AMAZING! I am definitely NO lover of cauliflower and I could taste any whatsoever. My only complaint was that the crust wasn't near as crispy as I would like. Next time, I will be sure to press some of the excess water from the cauliflower before I mix the ingredients together.

Ingredients:

Nonstick spray
2 1/2 cups cauliflower, grated (about 1/2 a large head)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toppings of choice
approx. 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp oregano


Directions

1 Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (I will omit this next time and just put it on a sprayed pizza pan), and preheat oven to 425ºF.
2 Grate the cauliflower using a box grater until you have two cups of cauliflower crumbles. Place in a large bowl and microwave for five minutes, or until soft. Remove from the microwave and let cool.
3 Mix in the egg, one cup mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Once combined, pat into a 10-inch round on the prepared pizza pan. Spray lightly with nonstick spray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden.

4 Top the pizza with the sauce, 1/4 cup mozzarella, and desired toppings. Bake in the oven until melted and bubbly, another 10 minutes.

Sauce:

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon italian herb spice
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

a few dashes of dehydrated onion

Hope that you enjoy!




Saturday, April 19, 2014

P90X3 and Easter Treats! Ways to refrain from the sweets!

I'm just about finished the first block of the Classic schedule of P90X3. I love love love this workout. What more do you want? the comedic stylings of Tony Horton and an AWESOME workout in 30 minutes!!!

I'm even becoming a cardio lover! Well, umm, not quite, but my cardio endurance is improving which in turn is enabling me to enjoy it so much more!

The 4th week of the first block is transition week. This week isn't like the first 3, it incorporates more days of stretching workouts. Which, I'm sure that the increase in stretching serves some purpose, but, honestly, I can't wait for the intense workouts again.

I love that so far, this workout incorporates cardio, strength training and flexibility training and I really feel that I'm getting a fantastic workout at the end of the half hour.



I have to admit that this past week, I've been a little off kilter with my nutrition. I've been sticking to me meal plan, however, since the Hubs has been home, I may or may not have had one too many pieces of chocolate! Junk food, like chocolate bars and potato chips, unfortunately, have always been my weakness. I'll have to take extra care to not overindulge with treats now being in the house.

5 Ways to avoid overindulging:

1. Save chocolate for dessert.
Have chocolate, just one piece for dessert here and there after a meal. It's ok to have a piece every now and then, as long as you're not eating it in droves!

2. Stock your fridge.
Have your usual delicious, healthy options on hand so you aren't automatically drawn to eat chocolate in excess.

3. Don't buy in bulk.
Make a point to buy a small amount of good quality chocolate, instead of buying a multitude of another kind. Less in the house is less that you will eat!

4. Portion control.
Pay close attention to portions and stick to your meal plan as best as you can.

5. Consider raw chocolate.
Mix cacao and coconut oil together and put into moulds and put them in the freezer. You can add whatever extras you like to them, coconut, nuts, etc.


Saturday, April 5, 2014

Clean Eating Roasted Chicken, Potato and Green Beans

Usually weekend suppers are something that I tend to put more time into because I have more time. To be honest, I wasn't really in the mood to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Tonight's supper was a quick and easy and definitely a hit! My 2 year old isn't a picky eater and I love cooking clean meals for her that I know that she'll like and this one is for sure toddler approved!

It's the second time that I've made it and the first I used asparagus, which is great, but tonight I used green beans. Next time, I'll substitute sweet potatoes in place of the white. Here's the recipe, hope that you enjoy!

Clean Eating Roasted Chicken, Potatoes and Green Beans
 
INGREDIENTS
  • Cooking spray
  • 3 lb cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into 2 inch cubes
  • 2 lb potatoes, chopped into 2 inch cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced grape tomatoes (I used the candi-to variation, they're sweeter) 
  • Green Beans or asparagus (I actually didn't measure, just put in as much as I thought would suffice)
  • 2 Tbsp dried basil
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder 
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tsp dried rosemary
  • Ground pepper to taste
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Add chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, basil, garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary. Add pepper if desired. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning occasionally until tender. Serve.
 
 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Warm up Chili

So, it's April 1st and Mother Nature thought that a great April fool's prank was to plant over 30 cm of snow on us (so far, it's still snowing). So, no work for me today as I couldn't dig myself out in time, plus the roads were really too treacherous to take a 2 year old out. So, it's been a day of fun with my girl, shoveling, business building and personal development (while she naps). I even was super productive and whipped up a homemade pot of chili to warm our bones on this Winter, in Spring night. Simple, basic and clean.

1 can of kidney beans